Plugins and Mozilla Firefox (Windows)
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Late Breaking Issues
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Popular Plugins
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Plugin Support Questions
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Known Problems
- How do I stop Mozilla Firefox from prompting me to install a plugin?
- I have Windows Media Player 9.0 installed. Why does Mozilla Firefox use Windows Media Player 6.4?
- Why does Mozilla Firefox crash when I close it after using the Windows Media Player 9.0 plugin?
- I installed Macromedia Shockwave Player on Windows XP. Why doesn't it work?
- Support Resources
Late Breaking Issues
Upgrade to Java Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10 or later
Sun Java Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10 fixes many problems with previous releases, including a crash on exit when using Windows Media Player on Windows 2000. Upgrading is strongly recommended.
Text in SVG files is not drawn on Windows 9x
Firefox 1.5 and later use the Cairo renderer for SVG, which has known problems drawing text on Windows 9x.
Popular Plugins
How do I install Flash Player?
To install Flash Player, download Flash Player, and run the installer. Mozilla Firefox should appear in the list of browsers that you can install the plugin for. Alternatively you can use the XPI package provided by Adobe.
Further information, including known issues, is available from the Flash Player FAQ.
[Install Flash Player (XPI)] [Download Flash Player Installer]
How do I install Java?
To install JRE 5.0 for use with Firefox, simply download and run the JRE installer. Firefox will automatically use the new JRE. If you have older versions of the JRE installed (such as 1.4.2), you should remove them unless you are using them for development (or have another specific requirement for them).
Further information, including known issues, is available from the Java FAQ.
How do I install Adobe Reader?
If you have Adobe Reader (or Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.x) installed, Mozilla Firefox will automatically use the plugin. You do not need to do anything.
If you install Adobe Reader after Mozilla Firefox, the Adobe Reader installer will automatically install the plugin for Mozilla Firefox.
Further information, including known issues, is available from the Acrobat Reader FAQ.
How do I install Shockwave Player?
To install Shockwave Player, download Shockwave Player 10 and install it. Mozilla Firefox should appear in the list of browsers that you can install the plugin for.
If you are not using Windows 98, 2000 or XP, you will need to use Shockwave Player 8.5.1 instead of Shockwave Player 10.
[Download Shockwave Player 10] [Download Shockwave Player 8.5.1]
How do I install QuickTime?
If you have QuickTime 5.0 or later installed, Mozilla Firefox will automatically use the plugin. You do not need to do anything.
If you install QuickTime after Mozilla Firefox, the QuickTime installer will automatically install the plugin for Mozilla Firefox.
How do I install RealPlayer 10?
If you have RealPlayer 10 installed, Mozilla Firefox should automatically use the plugin. You should not need to do anything. If it is not detected, just reinstall RealPlayer 10.
It has been reported that scripting support will not work if you install Mozilla Firefox after installing RealPlayer. If this happens, reinstall RealPlayer.
If you install RealPlayer 10 after Mozilla Firefox, the installer will automatically install the plugin for Mozilla Firefox.
How do I install other plugins?
Mozilla Firefox supports all the plugins that are supported by Mozilla 1.x. For information about installing other plugins, see PluginDoc for Windows.
Plugin Support Questions
Can I use the Flash and Shockwave plugins from Internet Explorer?
No. Mozilla does not support the Flash and Shockwave plugins that Internet Explorer uses, which are ActiveX controls.
Can I use Microsoft's Java VM?
No. There is not a Netscape-compatible plugin for the Microsoft Java VM. In any case, the Microsoft Java VM has been discontinued, and the Sun Java VM should be used instead.
Can I use plugins installed for Netscape 4.x?
Yes. Just make sure that the Netscape 4.x plugin scan is on, and set to scan for all plugins.
Can I use plugins installed for Mozilla?
Yes. For plugins that don't require scripting support, you can often just copy the DLL file listed in about:plugins. However, the best thing is usually to just re-install the plugin, so that it gets correctly installed for Firefox. This is also the easiest way of handling it.
Can I use ActiveX controls?
Yes, however, this is not advised.
There is an ActiveX plugin available for Mozilla. However, installing it can cause many problems, including crashes and conflicts with installed plugins. It is generally recommended that you do not install this plugin, unless you are specifically instructed to do so or are using it to solve a specific problem (and configuring it accordingly). If you install it and have problems, the only support you will usually get is "Uninstall the ActiveX plugin". You have been warned.
Known Problems
How do I stop Mozilla Firefox from prompting me to install a plugin?
Open about:config, and set plugin.default_plugin_disabled to false. Then delete the file named npnul32.dll from your Mozilla Firefox plugins folder. You may have to enable showing hidden files to do this.
I have Windows Media Player 9.0 installed. Why does Mozilla Firefox use Windows Media Player 6.4?
This is a known problem with the Windows Media Player 9.0 installer. Applying this registry file will make Mozilla Firefox use the Windows Media Player 9.0 control.
Why does Mozilla Firefox crash when I close it after using the Windows Media Player 9.0 plugin?
This is a known problem on some Windows 2000 systems. Upgrade to Java Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 4 (or later) to resolve this issue.
I installed Shockwave Player on Windows XP. Why doesn't it work?
On some Windows XP systems, Shockwave Player does not work unless you run Mozilla Firefox in Windows 2000 compatibility mode.
Support Resources
I have a question that is not answered by this FAQ. Where can I ask it?
If you have a question that is not covered here, please search the MozillaZine forums to see if the problem has been mentioned before. If it hasn't, and the information contained in this FAQ and PluginDoc doesn't help, by all means post to the MozillaZine Forums.
How do I contribute information to this FAQ?
If you wish to contribute information to this FAQ, send an e-mail to Michael Hendy.
Maintained by Michael Hendy.
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